September 19, 2022

FAA Rejects Republic’s Proposal To Halve Pilot Training Hours

The FAA formally rejected Republic Airways’s proposal to allow pilots who go through its unique training academy to begin flying after just 750 hours of training – half of the normal 1,500 hours.

The airline contended that this would allow regional carriers to solve the shortage of pilots plaguing the industry more quickly, with the added bonus that since the FAA was understaffing ATC, the pilots would get the required hours while on-duty due to all the long waits for takeoff all over the country. The FAA rejected the two birds, one stone proposal saying it didn’t believe the proposal served the public interest or would help the “perceived pilot shortage.”

The government contended that making this exception for Republic would open it to similar requests from other airlines and the prospect of all that paperwork was just too much to handle. So for now, Republic pilots will have to go through their training the old-fashioned way just like everyone else – get hours in the military or be gouged by shady flight schools in the Arizona desert.

Spirit’s Flight Attendants’ Spirits are Low

Spirit and its FA union the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) are in the midst of bargaining for a new contract, and negotiations are not off to a rousing start.

The offer on the table would give FAs “pennies more” than FAs at Frontier, and far less than JetBlue, according to the union. The last contract between the two was agreed upon in 2016 – which might as well be 1916 with how much the industry has changed since then. The carrier offered a 7% pay raise, with the union laughing the offer out of the room. The two are expected to return to the negotiating table next week – dependent on when Spirit officials can scrounge up enough change to pay the standby fee to fly their own airline.

The union contends the airline is taking its status as a low-cost carrier too far, extending its penchant for low fares to its pay offer to its cabin staff, with the AFA-CWA describing the offer as an “insult” and claiming its members currently earn “poverty wages.”  Amazingly, Spirit officials didn’t dispute the claim from its union, actually printing out the quote and pasting it at headquarters as a source of pride.

Aer Lingus Suffers Technology Fail Again

For the second time in a week, Aer Lingus suffered a technical failure causing headaches for customers and the airline’s own staff.

This IT gaffe saw the carrier’s online check-in break down, forcing customers to check-in manually for all flights in person at the airport which led to long lines and frustrated customers for having to actually interact with a human being to be permitted on the aircraft.

Aer Lingus announced the issue had been fixed around 6 a.m. today, only to announce three hours later that it was, in fact, not fixed. Flights continue to operate as-scheduled, with passengers advised to get to the airport now – regardless of when they are departing – just to be safe.

  • Air New Zealand operated its inaugural flight from Auckland to New York on Friday, and some of the luggage went with it.
  • Azman Air is back.
  • Arajet operated its inaugural flights over the weekend.
  • El Al will begin flying to Tokyo in March.
  • Fiji Airways prospects are looking up — according to Fiji Airways.
  • Jet Airways will begin flying — eventually — says Jet Airways.
  • JetBlue‘s merger with Spirit won’t go through if Elizabeth Warren has anything to say about it.
  • Nepal Airlines is leasing out some aircraft.
  • Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary doesn’t care for the management of Brussels Airport.
  • UPS reached a contract extension with its aircraft mechanics.

Fun fact: Australia’s biggest export is boomerangs.

It’s also their biggest import